Apparatus for flowing oil wells



July 9, 1940. H R. TQNEY 2,207,033

APPARATUS FOR FLOWING OIL WELLS Original Filed May 23, 1 938 Patented July 9, 1940 l n UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR FLOWING OIL WELLS Homer R. Toney, Vivian, La., assignor oi onehall to John R. Beddingeld, Shreveport, La.

Application May 23, 1938, Serial No. 209,617 Renewed May 31, 1940 2 claims. (o1. 10a-233) This invention relates to an apparatus of iiow- A series oi' low valves 25 are placed rin the liow ing wells particularly oil wells which do not have pipe I at suitable intervals so as to be located sumcient internal gas pressure to discharge the at different elevations in the pipe from adjacent contents of the well. the bottom of the well to near the surface level 5 The object of the present invention is to enable of the oil therein. These flow valves differ from 5 oil wells to be flowed by means of a gas or pneuthe prior art by reason of the fact that they are matic lift and to utilize for this purpose the conpositively opened and closed and do not depend ventional well casing and oil ow tube. for their operation on springs, balls or other Another object of the invention is to construct automatic means subservient to gas or liquid l0 such a lift for wells having a plurality of longipressures in the flow pipe and casing. 10

tudinally spaced valves placed between sections As before stated, one of the prime objects of of an internal pipe line and to provide a positive the present invention iS 'G0 provide the Oil iiOW means for operating these va1ves, The autopipe with a series of positively opened and closed matic valves which have been previously provalves or stop cocks fOr the pulpOSe 0f DIO- posed for accomplishing this purpose have not gressively elevating and discharging oil from the l5 been found practical in use and well operators well and to enable the operator to walk the lift are never sure that the automatic valves have gas dQWn the `Weil by serially Opening and 010sproperly functioned. ing the stop cocks` as the fluid pressure admitted A still further object of the present invention into the Oil pipe 10WeIS the lei/e101 liquid therein.

is to provide a novel gas lift valve per se which With the instant construction of the valve and 20 may be positively opened and closed by the invalve actuator there is no guess Work involved troduction of an operator within the pipe line. as to whether or not a valve has opened or closed,

In the drawing, for each actuation is definite and not subject Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view of a, to an involved and delicate automatic structure.

Well showing a typical installation of the present Referring t0 the detail drawing. FigSl 2 t0 6, 25

invention;` inclusive, it will be seen that each valve or stop Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view, partly in Cock iS made a Pari? 0f the -Pipe Coupling 0r section of one of the iiow valves in closed po- Joints 25, inserted into the 110W pipe l2 ai; Suitable sition; intervals by screw threaded collars 26. The valve 3o Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the now valve y coupling 251s preferably a machined cylinder 30 30 in opened position and illustrating the valve having end threads 21 and a central passage or actuation means; bore 3| therethrough, the ends of the bore being Fig. 4 is a cross-section view of the ow valve, iieied outwardly es denoted by numeral 32- A taken on line 4 4 of Fig, gvwhen the valve is valve or stop cock assembly 35 is positioned in a a5 about half closed; longitudinal stepped slot 36 cut in the wall of the 35 Fig. 5 is also a cross-section view of the flow Cylinder- 30' and yeS-Seenin Figs- 2 end 3, the valve taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2 when the valve Slot extends into the Side 0f Passage 3| is closed; Essentially, the assembly consists of a ma- Fig, 6 is a vertical section view of the valve chined block having offset arms 31 with screw per se taken on une 6 5 of Fig 5, opening '3B for the reception of screws which 40 Specifically in the drawing numeral I0 indi,- firmiy retain the' assembly in the S1013 35 The Icai-,es a conventionai Weii casing extending downinner portion of the valve assembly 39 is shorter .wardly from the surface into an oil bearing strata. then the Outside Portion and iiiS Within the The usua1 pipe line is positioned within the inner portion of the slot 36, as shown,. the excasing I0 and is sealed ofi the casing near the treme inner section 40 thereof being curved to 45 bottom thereof by packer Iii.v A-smaller diamconform with the circumferenceof the bore 3|. eter now pipe I5 is placed within pipe line Il, The valve or c'ock per se may take the form of and extends therefrom above the surface where 1 a tapered cylindrical body or plug 45, fitted withit is led to a suitable tank or reservoir I6. A in a corresponding transverse machined bore 46.'

casing head seal I1 is secured to the upper end A fluid passage or conduit 4'!` is provided from 50 of pipe line Il throughwhich flow line I5 passes. the exterior to the interior of the assembly and The sealing head I'I is provided with a fluid supply is controlled by bore 48 passing through the plug pipe I8 for conveying gas or compressed air 45. The plug 45 is rotated or oscillated into open from gas supply pipe I3 or compressor 20 to pipe or closed position by means of a curved arm 50 line Il. pinned or otherwise fastened on a squared lex- 55 tension I of the plug extending through a'corresponding opening in the central portion 52 o1' the arm.

A ared groove 53 extends from the bore 3| around the base of the valve arm 50 so that in either position the outer end` of the arm terminates just with the bore diameter. In Fig. 4 the solid line position of the arm indicates that it is fullyclosed, while the dotted lines indicate the arm in intermediate positions, as also does Fig. 5.

The valve or stop cock is positively opened or closed by means of a slightly tapered cylindrical operator or weight 55. This weight is made with a straight lower end 55 of slightly less diameter than the bore 3|, and the operator is moved into engagement with the valve arm 50 by being suspended from wire 51 which passes through passage 58 and is knotted at the bottom or otherwise secured to the weight; As the weight 56 is lowered from the upper end of the tube I5, it will strike the arm 50 of the uppermost of the series of closed valves 25 and will rotate the Same to open position, as seen in Fig. 5. The weight being slightly smaller in diameter than the cylinder bore may readily pass therethrough, but it must contact the outer end of valve arm 50, which projects slightly into the bore.

When it is desired to close a previously opened valve, the weight or operator 55 is reversed Aon the wire 51 by inverting the weight and tying it at the bottom by passing the wire out of transverse opening 59. This reversal of the weight places the straight surface 56 at the top and as the operator is slightly tapered, it will pass through the bore 3| to a point below the opened valve. However, when the reversed weight is again hoisted the at top edge will strike the valve arm 50 and close the valve. This action in either direction is further insured by iiaring the .end of the bore at 32 to direct the operator and by having the wire passage 58 of a size that will cause the weight to be slightly oi its true vertical axis and rub against the bore.

In operation, a string of one and one-quarter inch oil iiow pipes I5, having a series Vof lift valves 25 coupled therein at suitable-intervals, are lowered into the well inside of the usual pipe line II. Flow pipe I5 passes out of the pipe line II through head seal I1 and is joined to a discharge branch leading to tank I6. Fluid pressure lto operate the oil lift is supplied to outer pipe line II from a source of gas pressure through line I9 or a source of compressed gas or air from compresser 20.

To apply pressure to the hydrostatic head of oil which has risen in ow pipe I5, gas pressure or compressed air is introduced into pipe line II. The union I2 is then broken and the weight 55 on its attached wire 51 is lowered until the fiat end 5B strikes the arm 50 of the uppermost series o! valves 25 to open the same, after which the union is closed and the uid pressure in pipe line II then rushes through valve passage 41 and overcomes the hydrostatic head on the oil in the pipe II above the stop cock to elevate and discharge the oil into the storage tank. After the oil above the valve has been lifted, the weight is again inserted in reverse' position to a point just below the valve and raised to positively close the same. .'I'he operation, as before described, is then again instituted to open the second valve and after discharge of the oil, the operation is repeated until the lowermost series of valves has been opened and closed and the well completely emptied. After the well has had sufncient time tofill again, the same steps are taken.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a well flowing apparatus, a flow pipe, a pipe line formed of a plurality of sections, couplings connecting adjacent sections, the pipe line being positioned interiorly of the said ow pipe within a well casing, said pipe line having longitudinally spaced apart, manually operable valves positioned in the couplings for establishing communication between the interior and exterior of said pipe line, means for introducing a gaseous pressure medium into the space between said flow pipe and said valved pipe line, said individual valves each comprising rotary valve bodies having bores therethrough and outwardly extending operating arms secured to one end of said bodies, means cooperating with said operating arms for positively opening and closing said valves, the said valve bodies being mounted in a plate having radial passages therethrough registering with the bores in the valve bodies, the said plates being mounted as units in open- 4 ings formed in the couplings `joining the individual line sections.

2. In an oil well owing apparatus and in combination with the conventional oil well casing and ow tube, a pipe line within said flow 4 tube, a seal between the upper portions of the tube and pipe, a conduit leading to the space between said tube and pipe for conveying gaseous pressure thereto, said pipe line having a plurality of longitudinally spaced rotary valves therein for establishing communication with the interior of said pipe line, valve operating arms attached to said valves and extending into the interior of said pipe, a valve actuator for oscillating said operating arms comprising an elongated reversible tapered weight secured to a cable and adapted to be manually raised and lowered in said pipe line, said weight oscillating said arms-only when struck by the larger end of said tapered weight.

HOMER R. TONEY. 

